REAL-TIME SUPER

2026 Payday Super Launch Locked & Loaded

David Martin

David Martin | Senior Director - Enterprise Sales

30th September 2024

In response to industry advocacy and agitation, the government has announced some design detail around its mandated 01 July 2026 'Payday Super' deadline. So, where are we at? And where are we headed? Zepto's David Martin tells all.

The move to Payday Super was announced by the Australian government in May 2023. It mandated that employee superannuation contributions will have to be paid at the same time as their salary and wages from 01 July 2026. If you're like me, you probably didn't realise that this wasn't already happening. I'd always assumed that the super contribution listed on my payslip meant that those monies were immediately working for me and my retirement.

The government's announcement was described as a 'simple change' that will strengthen Australia’s superannuation system and help deliver a more dignified retirement to more Australian workers.

That was borne out in some of the government's modelling. It showed that by switching to Payday Super, a 25-year-old median income earner currently receiving their super quarterly and wages fortnightly could be $6000 or 1.5 per cent better off at retirement. This is a big plus as Australia braces itself for the increased cost of supporting an ageing population.

Additionally, more frequent super payments should make employers’ payroll management smoother with fewer liabilities building up on their books.

"Payday Super will also make it easier for employees to keep track of their payments, and harder for them to be exploited by disreputable employers. While most employers do the right thing, the Australian Taxation Office estimates $3.4 billion worth of super went unpaid in 2019–20."

Treasury press release, May 2023

Despite the government stating that the 2026 start date would give employers, super funds, payroll providers and other parts of the superannuation system sufficient time to prepare for the change, there were doubters.

More than a year later in July 2024, Digital Service Providers Australia New Zealand (DSPANZ) — the industry association representing the business software sector in Australia and New Zealand — published a list of Payday Super Implementation Concerns. These were anchored in what they claimed was a lack of clarity on the technical and operational aspects of Payday Super and how to integrate it into payroll and superannuation software. There were also concerns about a dearth of official updates and outcomes from various consultations.

Delivered with some urgency given that it had been 400 days since the government's original payday super announcement, DSPANZ stated its core position as:

  • The timeframe for designing and implementing Payday Super is unrealistic.

.
It concluded with a pair of proposals for the government's consideration:

  • 1. Maintain the 1 July 2026 date but reduce the scope of what can be reasonably delivered by this date or;
  • 2. Push the commencement date to at least 1 July 2028 and consult with industry more effectively.

.
On 18 September 2024, the government responded.

In a joint release from Treasurer Chalmers and the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, Stephen Jones, the government announced policy design details on the payday super reforms.

Significantly, the 01 July 2026 start date stands. Even if 'Payday Super' has now been defined as 'within 7 calendar days', employers will need to pay Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions to employees with every pay cycle, instead of quarterly. This will ensure employees receive their contributions more often, helping to reduce unpaid super, and maximise the length of investment and — with luck — the return.

DSPANZ has welcomed the announcement. As do we at Zepto.

We see this as a clear signal that the migration and modernisation of Australia's payments ecosystem is pushing ahead unabated.

In its official response, DSPANZ noted, "We were pleased to see that the government has listened to our feedback and effectively reduced the scope of what can reasonably be delivered to enable Payday Super by 1 July 2026.

"We support updating the SuperStream data and payment standard to allow payments via the New Payments Platform (NPP). We urge the ATO to commence this consultation with DSPs, gateways and payment providers as soon as possible. DSPANZ remains committed to working with the government, ATO and our members to ensure the successful design and implementation of Payday Super."

DSPANZ

Not only has the starters pistol been fired, but the race is well and truly underway.

With 01 July 2026 locked in for the launch of Payday Super, does the scheduled 2030 retirement of Australia's workhorse digital payments framework, BECS, seem like a more solid line in the sand? I think so. 'BECSIT' is a way off yet, but the migration of payroll and super payments to the real-time realities of the NPP seems a significant test and step forward.

"As the industry prepares for the future decommissioning of the BECS framework, we expect to see greater adoption of the NPP for superannuation payments alongside other types of corporate payments. And government initiatives such as Payday Super is only likely to further accelerate this adoption,” said Katrina Stuart of Australian Payments Plus [AP+] in a Zepto Connect webinar on the topic.

Like DSPANZ, AP+ also welcomed the Treasurer’s Payday Super announcement.

"Moving superannuation payments to the NPP will enable employers to meet the obligations of Payday Super, as it offers faster and more efficient payments, easily meeting the requirement to have super payments arrive in the employee's super fund within seven calendar days of their payday."

AP+ statement on LinkedIn.

An important development in the government's announcement was the intention to revise the SuperStream data and payment standards to allow payments via the NPP.

Through a collaboration with Ozedi, Zepto already enables real-time superannuation payments over the NPP. Our solution allows Australian businesses to instantly and securely pay contributions to super funds with a PayTo-powered SuperStream service — an industry first.

We believe that this innovation will be the first of many in the payroll and superannuation space on the road to Payday Super and beyond. In our experience, with traction comes a wave of innovation and an explosion of use cases and unique payment flows. As we gaze into our crystal ball of innovation, we see endless possibilities that will fundamentally change the way Australians engage with their superannuation both as working contributors and in retirement.

Once you consider the innovation that real-time payments might drive in this single industry, it's hard not to get excited about other sectors that are ripe for modernisation. Seriously, don't get me started.

The governments new Payday Super fact sheet states that, "Around 8.9 million employees will benefit from higher retirement savings from receiving their superannuation contributions earlier and more frequently throughout their working life." That's an enormous opportunity for funds and clearing houses to deliver game-changing payment experiences — contributions, investments, payouts — to millions of Aussies as a competitive differentiator by adding value beyond the pragmatic movement of monies in decades-old ways.

I see the government's commitment to 01 July 2026, and the industry's response to it, as a happy harbinger of a rapidly approaching future where real-time payments are the norm. Much of the world already moves at the speed of clicks, swipes and taps, and with the 2026 and 2030 change dates coming into view, it's time for organisations to act. This is as big a paradigm shift for this industry as there's ever been.

Legacy thinking and processes will make way for the reimagining of what payroll delivery looks like to a long-established industry. Incumbents and innovators will interact in new ways to unlock the potential coming at us quickly. All kinds of unexpected collaborations and partnerships are inevitable on the road to Payday Super, and that excites us like you wouldn't believe.

'Conservative' will have to get out of the way of 'creative'.

Opportunity will favour the brave.

But with Payday Super less than two years away, the brave had better get moving.

Are you ready for 2026 and Payday Super?

Let's talk
Written By
David Martin

David Martin | Senior Director - Enterprise Sales

Next Up